Foxconn's chairman on Saturday defended its hiring practices after New Delhi ordered an investigation into a Reuters report that the Apple supplier denied married women jobs assembling iPhones.

“Foxconn recruits employees regardless of gender, but women make up a large portion of our workforce here,” Younger Liu said at an opening ceremony for a dormitory complex for its workers near Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“I stress that married women make a huge contribution to the efforts we are making here,” he added in his first statement since the Reuters investigation.

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Liu did not respond to media questions about the dormitory complex that the state government has called “exclusive” for Foxconn's 18,720 female workers. The multi-story dormitory is located near an iPhone manufacturing plant.

A Reuters investigation published in June found that Foxconn systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main iPhone assembly plant in India, on the grounds that they had more family responsibilities than their single counterparts.

Foxconn acknowledged some weaknesses in its hiring practices in 2022 and said it had worked to address the issues, but added that it “strongly denies any allegations of employment discrimination.”

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The story sparked debate on television and editorials in newspapers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal government ordered Tamil Nadu to provide a “detailed report” on the issue, and its labor officials also visited iPhone factories to question executives. New Delhi has not released any findings.

Foxconn told labor officials that its main iPhone factory in India employs 41,281 people, including 33,360 women. Of those, about 2,750, or about 8 percent, were married.

The report did not specify the number of employees assigned to specific areas such as iPhone assembly, where Reuters reported discrimination.

In recent years, Foxconn has expanded into India, where it makes iPhones and products for other smartphone brands, and plans to move into making AirPods and chips.

Liu met with Modi and many senior Indian officials during his current visit and discussed Foxconn's investment plans.

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